Happy Monday. The Hatchet crew – which is partially comprised of New Yorkers and some Massachusetts residents – reconvened after the Super Bowl last night to throw together the paper. I got some interesting feedback through e-mail and on a few other blogs about my last post, which spoke about the front page process. I’d like to answer some quick questions.

The Hatchet’s production process is as egalitarian as it gets. Editors suggest stories they would like on the front page. We toss ideas around all the time and sometimes scrap the page late at night to make room for new news. There are often fights over what makes the front page and sometimes, when better news comes in, the front page crew (me, senior news editor, photo team and layout squad) and the assignment editor on duty, make a decision.

Take today’s front page. Because of the Super Bowl, we laid most of it out on Saturday, leaving a hole for the basketball story on top. When the photo came in, photo editor Nick Gingold and senior staff photographer Ben Solomon thought it needed more space for a better crop. We rearranged the page to make this happen.

I got a few e-mails and some questions about basketball on our front page. If you look through history, we have done it before. This year, we have done it a lot more. There are a few reasons for that. On this campus, basketball is king. Thousands of people attend each game and even more follow it on television and the Internet. During the 2005-2006 season – considered by many the best in University history – The Hatchet made a financial commitment to covering basketball. We send reporters and photographers around the country covering the team. Now, that doesn’t mean its always front-page worthy. But just as that season was historic for its successes, this one is newsworthy for its failures.

From a design standpoint, another factor in front page decisions, basketball photos are incredibly inviting and powerful. That does not mean that we are not running serious stories on our front. Of the five stories on a typical front page, at least four are not sports. Today we had a story about the University lobbying city councilmen to oppose a sick leave act, concerns about HOVA, theater space and problems with voting registration. Tons of hard news for you all to enjoy. Keep the comments and e-mails coming! I can be reached at [email protected].